Dicey times for RFID

If ISO doesn't accept the EPC standard, the industry will have a lot of backfilling to do.

There's plenty of hype swirling around RFID taking over the world and be a critical technology in optimizing supply chain management.

Actually, it has a way to go.

A small survey of RFID implementers has convinced me that closed-loop systems will be the way to go for awhile at least. This is not to say that the dream will never become a reality. But it is several yearsperhaps decadesin the future.

For starters, there's the standards issue. ISO and EPC are do not see eye-to-eye. The ISO committee that deals with RFID is taking a look at the EPC standard document now. Meanwhile, the fledgling RFID industry is holding its collective breath.

The hope is that ISO will rubber stamp the EPC standard. If it doesn't, the industry is in for a longer road to roll out really sophisticated systems.